Market Update
Franklin County Timber Prices — Q1 2026
Every three months we call the mills we work with in Franklin County, Adams County, and Cumberland County, and write down what they’re paying for each species and grade. This post is the result. No paywall, no email required — if you own timber in Franklin County, you should know what it’s worth before anyone knocks on your door.
All numbers below are stumpage: what a landowner actually receives for a quality mature tree on accessible ground, before our 10% fee. Ranges reflect variation in diameter, clear trunk length, defects, and access. A yard tree with nails, forks, or lawnmower scars will come in at the low end of the range; a clean forest-grown tree with a long clear bole will come in at the high end.
Headline: what moved this quarter
- White oak is still the story. Stave-grade prices held steady at ~$1,800/MBF, driven by bourbon cooperage demand in Kentucky and Tennessee. Regional saw mills are paying up just to compete with stave buyers for volume.
- Walnut saw-log pricing is up ~8% from Q4 2025. Veneer walnut is recovering more slowly — the 2022 boom is still in the rear-view mirror, but the floor has stopped dropping.
- Cherry continues its long, slow decline. Still real money for high-grade trees, but don’t expect the numbers you’d have seen a decade ago.
- Red oak is soft. Export demand (especially to China) has not recovered. Domestic flooring and furniture buyers are the only meaningful market right now.
- Hard maple figured logs are expensive to find and very expensive when found. No one in Franklin County is running a birdseye scanner, which is part of why the upside clause in our contract matters.
Stumpage prices by species (Q1 2026)
| Species | Saw-log stumpage | Upside grade |
|---|---|---|
| Black Walnut | $550 – $900 / MBF | Veneer: $2,500 – $6,000+ / MBF |
| White Oak | $500 – $700 / MBF | Stave-grade: $1,700 – $1,900 / MBF |
| Black Cherry | $300 – $400 / MBF | Select & better: $650+ / MBF |
| Hard Maple | $225 – $325 / MBF | Figured (birdseye / curly): 5–10× |
| Red Oak | $180 – $260 / MBF | — |
| Yellow Poplar (Tulip) | $140 – $200 / MBF | — |
| White Ash | $150 – $220 / MBF | EAB-salvage pricing varies |
| Hickory | $140 – $200 / MBF | — |
MBF = thousand board feet, the standard unit used by mills. A mature 28′′ DBH walnut with a 12′ clear butt log typically contains roughly 250–400 board feet, depending on how it’s bucked.
Putting it in per-tree terms
The table above is how mills quote, but landowners think in trees, not MBF. Here are rough per-tree figures for a single mature yard tree in good condition:
| Species | Typical saw-log yard tree | When it gets exciting |
|---|---|---|
| Black Walnut | $400 – $1,800 | Veneer: $3,000 – $12,000+ |
| White Oak | $300 – $900 | Stave: $1,200 – $3,500 |
| Black Cherry | $150 – $550 | High select: $700 – $1,400 |
| Hard Maple | $120 – $400 | Figured: $800 – $3,000+ |
| Red Oak | $90 – $300 | — |
| Yellow Poplar | $70 – $200 | — |
| White Ash | $70 – $220 | — |
| Hickory | $70 – $200 | — |
Pricing sources and methodology
Numbers on this page come from direct conversations with the mills we work with in April 2026:
- Mohn’s Lumber — Chambersburg, PA (est. 1969)
- Bricker Lumber — Cashtown, PA (est. 1957)
- Moulstown Woodworks — Hanover, PA
- Cross-referenced against the Penn State Extension quarterly timber market report
These are not universal prices. A walnut in Bedford County or Lancaster County may trade at slightly different numbers. We only quote Franklin County because that’s where we live and that’s where we work. If you’re in a neighboring county and want a reality check on a number you’ve been offered, call us anyway — we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s in range.
What we expect to see next quarter (Q2 2026)
- White oak stave: probably flat to slightly up. Cooperages are still running hot and global bourbon inventory is below long-run averages.
- Walnut saw log: gentle continued recovery. European furniture buyers are slowly coming back.
- Cherry: no catalyst for a recovery. Plan accordingly.
- Red oak: watching Chinese import policy closely. Any loosening would move the floor meaningfully.
Want these numbers applied to your trees?
Free assessment, no pressure. We’ll walk your property, identify species, estimate board feet and grade, and show you exactly how the Q1 numbers above translate into dollars for your specific trees.
Request Free Assessment